What It Took to Write Ancients & Death

I announced this already over on Facebook, but it certainly bears repeating: I have, after a great deal of time and effort, finished the first draft of my third book, Ancients & Death. The feat was accomplished in the wee hours of last night, after a writing stint lasting nearly six hours straight. I really, really, really just wanted the damn thing done.

I'll be posting the final chapters on satiswrites over the next couple of weeks, but I thought it marked a good time for reflection on the past few months, and just what it took to complete this monumental third book of the Redemption of Erâth series. (For those of you wondering, it isn't nearly complete yet.)

Two years, three months and twelve days (since I saved the first chapter)

183,568 words (122% to forecast)

614 pages of formatted text

225 instances of the word 'darkness' (nearly two times 'darker' than Consolation, though not quite as dark as Exile)

1 six-month stint in California

1 period of crippling, nearly suicidal depression

Far too many cups of coffee to count

Even more glasses of wine/whiskey/beer

3 computers and an iPad

2 houses and an apartment

300 plays of the album The Days of Grays by Sonata Arctica (the soundtrack to this series)

1 cat

It's been a wild two years, and I am so glad to be finally done with the writing stage. However, as we all know, this isn't by any means the end. I'll need to edit, rewrite, cut, trim, edit some more, and send to a professional editor before it's even close to ready for publication. So while it might be a while before you get to hold your copy in your hands, know that I absolutely plan to release the book this year, even as I start to think about its own sequel.

I'm also still looking for one or two more beta readers to give the manuscript a first look, so if you're at all interested in reading the pre-release draft, please let me know and I'll be happy to send you what I've got so far.